Laboratory Manager

LED FastStart • Alexandria, LA

4d • Onsite

About The Position

Ucore is seeking a Laboratory Manager to oversee laboratory operations supporting RapidSX rare earth element refining and solvent extraction. The role is based in Alexandria, Louisiana, with frequent travel to Kingston, Ontario, and regular travel within the United States and Canada. The Laboratory Manager reports to the Plant Manager and works independently and with plant personnel to help direct facility operations. The position supports corporate initiatives and helps ensure safe, efficient, compliant operations that meet production goals, minimize downtime, and maintain high-quality standards.

The Laboratory Manager provides daily oversight of laboratory operations, analytical testing for separation processes, and safety compliance. The role leads analytical teams, maintains and validates laboratory equipment and assay results, and supports installation, startup, and commissioning of laboratory, manufacturing, and facilities equipment. The position also supports organizational policies, goals, and objectives.

Requirements

• Graduate degree in Chemistry focused on atomic spectroscopy or mass spectrometry, or an undergraduate degree with 7 or more years of relevant experience.
• 3–5 years of experience in analytical chemistry and elemental analysis, specifically ICP-MS or ICP-OES.
• Strong leadership, communication, organization, and data analysis skills.
• Strong troubleshooting skills.
• Knowledge of laboratory safety standards for hazardous chemicals, compressed gases, and radiation.
• Strong attention to detail and quality control, with meticulous adherence to procedures and protocols to ensure product quality and process safety.
• Availability to rotate shifts to accommodate 24/7 manufacturing operations.
• Ability to lift, carry, push, or pull up to 50 pounds occasionally.
• Ability to travel and respond to emergency callouts outside normal working hours.
• Ability to walk and stand for extended periods in a plant environment; climb stairs and platforms and access elevated or restricted areas; and bend, stoop, kneel, crouch, and reach as needed for inspections.
• Ability to visually inspect equipment, systems, drawings, gauges, and work areas, and to hear alarms, equipment sounds, and communications in a noisy environment.
• Ability to work safely around machinery, dust, noise, vibration, and temperature extremes, and to wear required PPE and comply with plant safety requirements.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with solvent extraction of rare earth elements.
• Experience with XRF and other forms of spectroscopy.

Responsibilities

• Supervise daily laboratory work for rare earth solvent extraction and separation, leading chemists, technologists, technicians, and analytical staff.
• Direct laboratory testing, equipment calibration, and process analytics to support product purity and circuit stability.
• Troubleshoot, maintain, and develop methods for installed analytical equipment.
• Oversee trace- and major-element assays using ICP-MS, ICP-OES, and XRF across feed, intermediate, and final rare earth oxide streams.
• Oversee process and circuit testing, including autotitration for free-acid H+ and total REE, ion chromatography for inorganic impurities, and online or at-line process analytical technology systems.
• Manage organic-phase checks using GC/GC-MS, FT-IR, Karl Fischer, interfacial tension testing, and centrifuges to monitor extractant degradation, moisture, entrainment or crud, and emulsion risks.
• Lead physical quality testing using Laser PSD, BET surface area, XRD, and C/S/O/N/H analyzers.
• Ensure laboratory adherence to environmental, health, and safety protocols.
• Validate analytical data from all instrumentation installed in the laboratory.
• Lead or participate in root cause analysis of analytical processing issues, including time to recovery.
• Develop and manage annual operations budgets for the Analytical Laboratory and maintain inventory of reagents and supplies.
• Schedule laboratory coverage to accommodate 24/7 plant operations and be available during off-shift hours to respond to issues as needed.
• Support equipment installation, startup, and commissioning for laboratory, manufacturing, and facilities equipment.
• Perform other duties as assigned by management.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager